Me i did not love him it was a mask i wore
It looked like a full belly or a shirt he left on the floor
And there were quiet bits of respite i did not ask for more
His steps would fade down the way after he closed the door
He, he did not love me not near as much as he loved gin
Not near as much as he loved bourbon or a beer to lift his chin
But he kept me in fine linens he kept the pantry filled
And he kept me like a broken bird till the day he was killed
Have mercy on this heartache borne into such a fog
For the man he meant much less to me than the company of a dog
And i'm not sayin he was a bad man
No, i swear upon my blood
But what do you bury next to a man you did not love?
We were children at the alter dressed in our parent's shoes
When you got nothing to hold onto, you got nothing left to lose
And some nights i'd lay there naked all sadness and bare-bones
And he would smell like smoke and lust, if he made it home
Have mercy on this heartache borne into such a fog
For the man he meant much less to me than the company of a dog
And i'm not sayin he was a bad man/no, i swear upon my blood
But what do you bury next to a man you did not love?
I'm not praying for a reason/surely don't think god will hear
God never heard me one time when he left me here
Some days i see my sister babies all pink and bright
And the one i bore was gone before we were sure he'd go to christ
And i'm a child at this gravestone all contrite with tears
In the one hand is my freedom
In the other all these hard years